Movie Characters Revisited: Gandalf

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Originally Posted by Morthoron:
Sir Ian did just fine as Gandalf, whether Grey or White; however, he was at the mercy of the script, which will be a recurring theme for me throughout these sordid discussions.

Yes, but. No actor could rise much above the quality of the script they're obliged to enact, even those with some talent like Viggo and Cate. Now McKellen has a lot of talent, and rendered G the Grey in a way that enhanced the wtritten part and in some ways corrected for its bad patches.

However, I don't find that to be the case with his G the White. Whereas in Tolkien Gandalf Returned is a bit more aloof or distant given his enhanced knowledge and latent but unchallengeable power, Sir Ian's GII is not aloof so much as simply passive, less engaged in general unless he's being an old worry-wort.

He has a nice moment giving Pippin the transplanted "white shores" passage, but he still comes across rather like a wise old schoolmaster-officer bucking up his cadet in the face of the final and fatal Afghan/Zulu/Ashanti charge- surely NOT a situation book-GII would ever have been in even had Tolkien envisioned Trolls bashing at the inner gates of Minas Tirith. Book G the W had nothing to fear in all of Middle-earth except - maybe - Sauron himself; it's for that reason really that T never puts him in a combat situation.* Had Ian understood Gandalf 2.0, he would or should have given us quiet but unshakable confidence.

*Does the Witch-King abandon the Great Gate because of cock-crow and the unexpected dawn? In small part, perhaps- but mostly because he senses, for all his bravado, that he doesn't dare try his strength against that old man. "You cannot enter here," says Gandalf, in almost the same words as "You cannot pass" on the bridge of Khazad-dum. But this time he is mightier, and his foe is no Balrog.

I agree with much of what you say here regarding G the W, WCH, but again, much of that was scripted. For instance, one cannot evince bravado when it is scripted that the WiKi splinters G the W's staff, knocks his character clean off his horse and he grovels before the WiKi on the ground (and only the cock crow saves him). That is directorial intervention, not acting.

In the movie council scene before the army of Gondor leaves for the Morannon ("The Last Debate" chapter from the book), Gandalf's wisdom and cunning lines are given to Aragorn, and Gimli makes his jests in brogue. Peter Jackson removed Gandalf as the prime mover of the actions of the West (as Tolkien intended) and instead handed the impetus to Aragorn.

[Belegorn]

I was pretty content with the portrayal of Gandalf. I think this always leaves room open for future films of books since none hardly ever stay true to the story. I did not like the battle with the Balrog. It seemed very much on a lesser scale than the actual battle from the books and Gandalf just pounding the Balrog with his sword in the movie was not cool.